The May Day holiday is over. I don’t know about you, but I always feel the break is way too short and I’m not done enjoying it — my mind just can’t switch back to GIS. A few days ago I came across a global May Day holiday map online, but the map had some serious boundary issues. So I decided to create one myself. This article shares the whole tinkering process, and I hope it gives you some ideas for making other interesting maps.
GIS Data Collection
In the past, making a map like this would require gathering a huge amount of data and manually editing each entry — something I definitely wouldn’t have time for. But things are different now. With AI, we can easily get this kind of data list by using DeepSeek.
The image above shows the result I got from DeepSeek. I then asked it to organize everything into an Excel spreadsheet. Once compiled, the country names were in Chinese, but the GeoJSON data I had used slightly different names — for example, “中国”, “China”, “People's Republic of China”. So I had to manually adjust them in Excel. However, checking over 100 entries one by one would still take quite a while, so I used AI to clean the data automatically. The result looked like this:
Making the Map in QGIS
With the data ready, the rest is pretty straightforward. First, load the world map GeoJSON (data source: “GIS Data” Sharing World Map Vector Data (by Country, SHP format)). Then use Layer > Add Layer > Add Delimited Text Layer to import the Excel data.
Right-click the world map layer, go to Properties > Joins, and join the Excel data to the world map layer.
Right-click the world map layer again, go to Properties > Symbology, choose Rule-based, and assign different colors for different data categories.
Final result:
Note: In QGIS, checking whether a field is not NULL cannot be done with the usual !=. You must use QGIS’s own field expression syntax. For example:
"field_name" IS NOT NULLData Analysis
Leave-Shuffling Asia
Asia is one of the regions with the highest participation in May Day and the most generous holiday arrangements, especially in East and Southeast Asia.
Our own China creates a sizable “May Day Golden Week” through adjusted working days. Vietnam also grants a 5-day holiday, combining the April 30 Reunification Day with May 1 Labor Day, and with the weekend forming one of the longest breaks in Southeast Asia. Thailand legally observes 1–3 days off; with May 1 falling on a Friday, it naturally becomes a 3-day weekend. Japan does not directly celebrate May Day, but it falls within the “Golden Week” period. From April 29 (Showa Day) to May 5 (Children's Day), there are four national holidays. In 2026, many employees can take leave on April 30 and May 1 to stitch together an impressive 10-day break. There are exceptions: Mongolia’s nine public holidays do not include International Workers’ Day on May 1, and in Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia and the UAE, May 1 is usually a normal working day, with holidays concentrated around Islamic religious observances.
No Leave Shuffling in Europe
Europe is regarded as the birthplace of May Day as a labour holiday (commemorating the 1886 Chicago workers’ strike), so most countries observe it as a statutory holiday. In France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and others, the day off is strictly on May 1. Since May 1, 2026 falls on a Friday, it naturally forms a Friday-to-Sunday three-day break. Russia attaches particular importance to this holiday, often granting 3–4 consecutive days off, and the “Spring and Labour Day” together with the May 9 Victory Day form an important holiday season. The United Kingdom, however, does not celebrate on May 1; instead, it observes the “Early May Bank Holiday,” scheduled in 2026 for May 4 (Monday).
A Divided Americas
In the United States and Canada, May 1 is just an ordinary Friday, with no sign of holiday festivities. Labour Day is set on the first Monday of September (September 7, 2026). In the late 19th century, the U.S. government deliberately chose September to downplay the radical connotations of the May 1 labour movement. It has since evolved into a marker of the end of summer and a major shopping season.
Oceania: Not My Business
Labour Day in Oceania has essentially nothing to do with May 1, and the dates vary widely across the region. In Australia, each state sets its own date: Western Australia and Victoria usually observe it in March, while New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory celebrate it on the first Monday of October. New Zealand marks it on the fourth Monday of October, commemorating carpenter Samuel Parnell’s pioneering fight for the eight-hour working day in 1840.
Africa’s Highly Uniform Observance
The overwhelming majority of African countries that were once colonies have retained May Day as a holiday. Typical examples include South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Egypt, Algeria, Ethiopia, and Tanzania. However, in Sudan’s official list of public holidays, May 1 is generally not a statutory holiday; public holidays there focus on religious festivals (such as Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha) and specific national political commemorations (like Independence Day on January 1 and Revolution Day on June 30).
Summary
To wrap up, if we strictly follow legal provisions and ignore any leave shuffling, China actually has the highest number of statutory days off, namely 2 days (doesn’t that make you happy?). The vast majority of other countries have just 1 statutory day, or none at all. However, when it comes to leave shuffling, Japan’s 2026 arrangement — with only 2 days of leave needed to get an 8-day break — is in a league of its own.
China, Vietnam, and Russia follow close behind. Other countries that have only 1 day off also automatically enjoy a 3-day weekend in 2026 because May 1 falls on a Friday.
So, where did you go this May Day? Did you do any development work? Feel free to share your travel route maps in the comments!